What We're Reading - August 3
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Good morning, everyone and happy Friday! Here’s what we’re reading this morning…
Labels don’t encompass the complexity of the issue. “Abortion: The New Wedge Issue” — “Last Friday, the Obama campaign released an ad in several swing states attacking Mitt Romney for his stance on abortion. ‘It’s a scary time to be a woman—Mitt Romney is just so out of touch,’ says a woman named Jenni. A narrator explains that Mitt Romney opposes requiring insurance coverage for contraceptives, supports overturning Roe v. Wade, and once backed a bill that would outlaw all abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. The ad concludes: ‘We need to attack our problems, not a woman’s choice.’ In recent elections, presidential candidates have been wary of diving into explosive abortion politics; in 2008, only $4 million was spent on abortion-related advertising, compared with $39 million on budget-related ads or $88 million on environmental ones. It's an issue the public remains divided on. According to Gallup, the proportion of Americans identifying as ‘pro-choice’ hit a record low of 41 percent this year, while those describing themselves as ‘pro-life’ hovered around 50 percent. ‘The minute you take positions on the abortion issue, there are a lot of people you're alienating,’ explains Susan Carroll, a Senior Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. ‘Usually, candidates try to run away from the issue.’ So why is the Obama campaign running toward it?”
A strong advocate for women’s health in Massachusetts… “Planned Parenthood [Action Fund] Endorses Tsongas” — “Planned Parenthood Action Fund announced its endorsement of Representative Niki Tsongas to represent Massachusetts’ 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Action Fund is the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. ‘We could not be more proud to endorse Nikki Tsongas in her race for Congress,’ said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund. ‘Tsongas has long been a dedicated champion for women’s health, and in Congress, she will continue to fight for increased access to health care for Massachusetts women and families.’ ‘In her five years in Congress, Representative Tsongas has stood with Planned Parenthood and worked to protect and increase access to essential preventive health care services,’ said Dianne Luby, president of the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts. ‘Recent debates on Capitol Hill over birth control demonstrate the continued need for leaders who are willing to speak up and fight against the small but vocal minority who are determined to roll back important health care protections for women and men in Massachusetts and across the country.’”
What goes along with cybersecurity better than amendments attacking women’s health? “Republicans Filibuster Cybersecurity Bill With Anti-Abortion, Obamacare Amendments” — “Rarely will you find the ACLU and national security experts from the George W. Bush administration on the same side of a political debate. But that’s what happened as Senate leaders worked toward a compromise on cybersecurity legislation, which everyone from the nation’s largest civil liberties group to the U.S. government’s spy chief, NSA head Gen. Keith Alexander, ended up supporting. OK, not everyone. The Cybersecurity Act, co-sponsored by Republican Susan Collins and independent Joe Lieberman, was blocked Thursday by a GOP filibuster. A cloture vote, which requires 60 ‘ayes,’ failed 52-46…. That's politics. Interestingly, though, that wasn’t how the Senate’s Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, framed the issue. Republicans weren’t trying to filibuster the bill, according to his statement—they were trying to improve it with a few additional amendments, and the mean old Democrats refused to even consider these amendments. So what were those amendments? Well, there were more than 70 in all. Some were relevant to the bill—others, less so. Among the Republican proposals was one from Utah Republican Mike Lee to ban abortions in the District of Columbia for women after their first 20 weeks of pregnancy. And then there was this innovative and thoughtful cybersecurity idea, suggested as an amendment by McConnell himself: Repeal Obamacare.”
